An overview is presented of recent studies on intestinal bacterial flora and the current state of probiotics (viable bacteria preparations) developed for use in domestic animals in Japan. They belong to two major categories, namely, veterinary drugs for treating gastro-intestinal disorders (such as diarrhoea), and feed probiotics to improve weight gain and feed efficiency, and also to maintain ...

biochemical polymorphism study is a method of determination of genetic variation. this variability could be a basis for selection and subsequent genetic improvement in farm animals. the polymorphism in the intron 1 of chicken growth hormone (cgh) gene was investigated in the iranian native fowls by using polymerase chain reaction (pcr)-restriction fragment length polymorphism (rflp) method. the...

1. Chickens inoculated subcutaneously with 0.2 cc. of a 10(-2) to 10(-7) dilution of Western equine mouse brain virus had the virus in the blood serum between the 12th and the 48th hour in most instances. The fowls showed no signs of illness. 2. Viremia could be induced regularly in chickens by inoculating subcutaneously the least amount of virus which would produce encephalitis in the mouse wh...

In the early investigations into the nature of the etiologic agent of fowl tumors, immunity phenomena were given some attention. The first observation was that the manifestations of resistance to these tumors in fowls, whether natural or acquired, are similar to those established for mammalian tumors, the principal feature being a local cellular reaction about the introduced graft (1). As was a...

The economic, physiological and immunological costs of endo-parasitism are documented to be higher in poultry with greater parasite intensities and diversity. The current study was undertaken to determine the effects of helminth burden in domestic guinea fowls at quantified natural infestation levels on body condition, haematological profile and spleen morphometrics. We hypothesized that the sp...

We tested seven hypotheses regarding the mechanisms by which fluctuating asymmetry (FA) originates. We did this by analyzing data on four bilateral characters measured repeatedly during the development of individual domestic fowl. Immediately posthatching, there was substantial directional asymmetry, which rapidly decreased. We detected FA at significant levels in all characters in the majority...